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Is Benjen Stark Coldhands?


jessica293

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I don't have any proof but I would kind of like it to be true. We have heard nothing regarding Benjen and have no history on Coldhands. Does anyone know anything I don't or have any other theories about Benjen or Coldhands?

I'm sorry if this is old news or has been brought up before. I tried to search the forum for information on Benjen and couldn't find much.

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Coldhands had both of his hands I believe

Ghost finds Benjens hand in the snow in GOTs

IT is not Benjens hand he finds, it belongs to one of the corpses they bring back from saying the words.

and Benjen seems to bet he number one contender for being cold hands... though I do believe one of the children of the forest say that he died many years ago, If I am correct with my timing, Benjen disappeared 3 years prior to Bran meeting coldhands, and for CotF 3 years is not a long time at all, so despite Benjen being top spot, there is a chance it is someone we do not know...

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Personally, I think the fact that the children of the forest say he "died long ago" makes it impossible for it to be Benjen. The children live far, FAR longer lifespans than humans do -- if something happened "long ago" for them, I think it's safe to say it happened centuries ago for us.

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There are a couple things that lead people to believe Coldhands is not Benjen;

  • Leaf, one of the Children of the Forest, says Coldhands was killed "long ago". At this point, Benjen has been missing for about a year and a half. It would be clumsy for humans to call something that happened a year and a half earlier "long ago", and I'd imagine doubly so for a being which is at least 200 years old.
  • Coldhands seems to have ancient knowledge. He knows about the passage through the Night Fort, and that he cannot pass through it,. The Watch at large does not have this information, since Sam has to tell them about it when he returns to Castle Black. But Benjen was First Ranger, and so it's safe to assume that he wouldn't have a compelling reason to hide this information from his brothers.
  • Coldhands can speak the Old Tongue, evidenced when he kills his elk mount. This suggests Coldhands is older than Benjen, and may in fact be centuries old.
  • Bran doesn't recognise Coldhands as Benjen, and Coldhands doesn't reveal himself as Benjen. In ADWD, there's a chapter where Bran and the Reeds openly challenge Coldhands about whether he's leading them into a trap. The Three Eyed Crow has sent Coldhands to lead Bran to him, so if Coldhands was Benjen, it makes little sense to keep himself concealed. Revealed, it would only cause Bran to trust him.

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You guys are awesome. I am now mostly convinced he is the Night's King. I just have to wonder how someone could sleep with an Other when they seem so intent on killing everything and capable of no human emotions.

I really want closure with Benjen though. Hopefully he is destined for something greater in the next two books?

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I really want closure with Benjen though. Hopefully he is destined for something greater in the next two books?

Me too, I think he is definately alive, one of my many theories regarding him is that he is still beyond the wall, but with Ned... they are looking for something to end the Others for good... Winter is Coming...

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Share! Do you have any details?

Does it involve a Red Priest?

Varys and Melisandre are working together... Varys said he could break Ned out of the keep (though he said he wouldn't, he had time to change his mind) He is cunning and has tact, so must have assumed Ned would be killed (he calls Ned a dead man in the dungeons) He took another prisoner, who was sure to be killed and promised if he passed as Ned that his family would be taken care of after he was gone, he then had Melisandre switch the appearance of Ned and the mystery man and the guy who was beheaded died as Stark, for the purpose of Varys' plan, Ned stark was dead to the realm. Whatever Varys had planned for the realm was obviously so important he would abandon his family.

To support him abandoning his family I use the conversation between Jon and Aemon on the wall, Aemon asks Jon, if his father was faced with a choice between the ones he loved and duty, what would he choose, to which Jon replied "he would do the right thing" meaning duty. We can all suspect that while he loves his family a lot, he would do the right thing...

The plan would work without Melisandre aswell, though it would involve a look-a-like and/or a mummer... perhaps a faceless man... Sansa says his head does not look like him and Cat says his bones are too small... if it was a look-a-like and you claim someone would hae recognized him I use the so called murder of the Stark boys at winterfell, Theon has 2 boys killed and proposes it was the Stark boys, even though the bodies are the wrong size, and of boys different ages to Bran and Rickon, everybody sees them as Bran and Rickon (even though they were burned) and these were people who had watched the boys grow... Someone also says something about people seeing what they want to see... if the boys went missing, and the man hunting them strings up 2 bodies and claims it to be them, who is going to argue? The same can be said about Ned, if he is paraded in front of Kings Landing, his daughter and the royals, who is going to assume it is an imposter? Nobody...

Everything is circumstantial, and perhaps none of it was meant to lead the way to ned being alive, but nobody can argue, it would all fit... even if they think he is dead, it is not impossible, even if it is unlikely, it is still possisble.

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  • 8 months later...

Varys and Melisandre are working together... Varys said he could break Ned out of the keep (though he said he wouldn't, he had time to change his mind) He is cunning and has tact, so must have assumed Ned would be killed (he calls Ned a dead man in the dungeons) He took another prisoner, who was sure to be killed and promised if he passed as Ned that his family would be taken care of after he was gone, he then had Melisandre switch the appearance of Ned and the mystery man and the guy who was beheaded died as Stark, for the purpose of Varys' plan, Ned stark was dead to the realm. Whatever Varys had planned for the realm was obviously so important he would abandon his family.

This is a wild hypothesis. I kind of hope it's true, but don't see how it can be.

Surprised Coldhands/Benjen didn't get more play. We did not get to know Benjen Stark, but Coldhands is as close to a Gandalf/wizard character as we have in the ASOIAF world.

Definitely want to find out more about him.

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Varys and Melisandre are working together... Varys said he could break Ned out of the keep (though he said he wouldn't, he had time to change his mind) He is cunning and has tact, so must have assumed Ned would be killed (he calls Ned a dead man in the dungeons) He took another prisoner, who was sure to be killed and promised if he passed as Ned that his family would be taken care of after he was gone, he then had Melisandre switch the appearance of Ned and the mystery man and the guy who was beheaded died as Stark, for the purpose of Varys' plan, Ned stark was dead to the realm. Whatever Varys had planned for the realm was obviously so important he would abandon his family.

To support him abandoning his family I use the conversation between Jon and Aemon on the wall, Aemon asks Jon, if his father was faced with a choice between the ones he loved and duty, what would he choose, to which Jon replied "he would do the right thing" meaning duty. We can all suspect that while he loves his family a lot, he would do the right thing...

The plan would work without Melisandre aswell, though it would involve a look-a-like and/or a mummer... perhaps a faceless man... Sansa says his head does not look like him and Cat says his bones are too small... if it was a look-a-like and you claim someone would hae recognized him I use the so called murder of the Stark boys at winterfell, Theon has 2 boys killed and proposes it was the Stark boys, even though the bodies are the wrong size, and of boys different ages to Bran and Rickon, everybody sees them as Bran and Rickon (even though they were burned) and these were people who had watched the boys grow... Someone also says something about people seeing what they want to see... if the boys went missing, and the man hunting them strings up 2 bodies and claims it to be them, who is going to argue? The same can be said about Ned, if he is paraded in front of Kings Landing, his daughter and the royals, who is going to assume it is an imposter? Nobody...

Everything is circumstantial, and perhaps none of it was meant to lead the way to ned being alive, but nobody can argue, it would all fit... even if they think he is dead, it is not impossible, even if it is unlikely, it is still possisble.

I wish this were true but i highly doubt it. Neds dead as dead can be.

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Well, I have a theory he is still alive, nobody agrees with me though... :P

Ned being alive goes well with Cat+Edmure incest theory. Everything was planned by Ned and his cousin Varys from the beggining to get a revenge on Cat, get rid of her inbred kids with Edmure and to crown Ned's only real son, Jon, The King in the North....

:idea:

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